Customer Service/Sales/Marketing/Data Mining Done Right

Yesterday FedEx delivered a package to my front door. Since I hadn’t ordered anything, I was sort of excited yet sort of skeptical to open the box. What I found about knocked me over! When I opened the box, I pulled out an orange cardboard tube about a foot long and about three inches in diameter. The front described the Dockers Alpha Khaki, “the first of it’s kind.” The back of the tube had a note typed out that included, “you have been selected to test-drive the new Alpha Khaki from Dockers.” So I opened the tube and found another note, this one looks hand-written. “This pair’s on the house. We think you’ll like ’em.” -Dockers

The tube contained a pair of khaki’s that were exactly my size. I promptly put them on and wore them to the play we attended last night. They were super comfy and I am super impressed by Dockers’ aggressive promotion direct to consumer. I’ve bought a few pairs of Dockers from Dockers.com and a few pairs of Levi’s from levis.com over the past couple years. That’s how they knew my style preferences. But I’ve also bought similar styles from Lands End and J. Crew. By reaching out unexpectedly to give me something of value for free, Dockers just won my loyalty.

What can we do to spark that kind of reaction and loyalty in our customers?